Advance Review: Taking a page from their '80s Judd Hirsch sitcom Dear John, and a few more pages from their own current (and ratings-starved) cult comedy Community, NBC has attempted to widen and broaden the single-camera "rag tag group who would never normally hang out with one another" format with Go On. Matthew Perry, who is almost always watchable and likeable doing TV comedy, plays Ryan, a sports radio host who refuses to come to terms with his wife's recent death.
I know, I know. That doesn't sound like the ideal set up for hilarity, but I was willing to go with it. We all know that dark, morbid humor can be done right and Matthew Perry sounds like the kind of sublimely sardonic actor to pull it off. But the premiere episode of Go On is bland and predictable, and, of all things, Perry himself seems to be the one most off-key. I know that actors don't like to repeat themselves for fear of pigeon-holing their career, but there are some personalities that we don't mind watching do the the same thing. In fact, we kind of prefer it. I wouldn't care if people accused Perry of doing different takes on Chandler Bing for the rest of his life. I loved Chandler Bing. And this is TV comedy, not London's West End. Let him shake his sarcastic moneymaker. But Perry's Ryan almost seems to be delivering lines in an anti-Chandler manner. And part of his shtick is that he's almost always in "sportscaster mode" in his performance.
Now granted, the thing that I found the funniest from tonight's pilot episode involved a scene where Perry turns his Life Transitions therapy group into a bracketed competition over whose life sucks the most, but overall Ryan's inability to deal with his grief makes him more annoying than supportable. Ryan's wife tragically died only one month previous. No one in their right mind would feel like they could get back into the swing of things after that short amount of time. And perhaps that's the point. Ryan's not in his right mind. And neither, naturally, are any of the other members of his overreaching, vague "getting past a bad thing in one's life" counseling group. And they're specifically, "roll the dice" loony to a fault.
There's the Asian perfectionist, the creepy inappropriate guy, the stern bossy woman, the weird girl who has trouble making human connections and the milquetoast cuckold. And if we're playing Community-"match 'em up," that's Annie, Pierce, Shirley, Abed and, well, Ralph from Dear John. With Perry as Jeff Winger. No, Go On isn't a carbon copy, but it is an example of the inevitable deadening of the single-camera format. With Go On (and a few other single-camera pilots I've seen), we've now reached almost a roll-back point for these shows. The inspired comedy of shows like Arrested Development and Scrubs are being replaced with "by the numbers" quirkiness and characters who talk fast and occasionally drop pop-culture references.
Yes, Matthew Perry is good at reacting to ridiculous situations, but when he's in what's supposed to be a lead/straight man role and he's competing for laughs, it drains the spa. Go On isn't terrible. But it's also not what you want from a high-profile outing from Matthew Perry that's being given a post-Olympics preview spot. But NBC's currently too scared to give us anything that doesn't have the potential for mass appeal. Brett Gelman's (The Other Guys) character has a few bright spots of awkward grossness, but since his character is simply to be random, he feels tacked on.
The one way that this show allows for a bit of elbow room in the grief department is that Ryan's group isn't specifically about death. Only a few members are dealing with that. But everyone is dealing with something that they're having a hard time accepting and some of the shows most interesting moments come when it slows down and shows scenes depicting everyone's individual pain and frustrations. But the more we focus on that aspect of the episode, the more the sports world side of things seems like it's from a different show entirely. Go On could get better. From every mediocre pilot springs hope. But sometimes we just want good ol' Miss Chanandler Bong. And a show that knows how to get decent laughs out of Matthew Perry.
Go On will air a special commercial-free preview of its pilot episode tonight on NBC following their Olympics coverage. It will officially premiere on Tuesday, September 11th at 9/8c after The Voice.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!
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